SANTO DOMINGO: Members of Venezuela’s leftist government and opposition leaders resumed talks in the Dominican Republic, seeking to reach an agreement to ease a deep political and economic crisis in the OPEC country.

The two sides failed to come to terms in a prior round of talks last December, when they concluded by saying they had made progress but needed more time. Expectations among Venezuelans for a deal this time around are low.

Opposition coalition Democratic Unity “is attending the meeting in good faith, to seek a way of allowing Venezuelans to build a route to the future,” tweeted party lawmaker Luis Florido on Thursday.

The opposition leaders are demanding that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accept humanitarian assistance from abroad to ease a crisis that has led to shortages of food and basic goods for millions of people.

They are also calling for the release of several hundred jailed political activists.

Government representatives want the opposition to push for the elimination of sanctions levied last year by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which have added to economic woes and complicated a debt restructure.

Dominican President Danilo Medina is leading the negotiations, which also include representatives from Bolivia, Chile, Mexico and Nicaragua.

Some of the participating countries have threatened to withdraw if agreements are not reached in this round.

“If there are no concrete and credible results, then there will be no point in moving forward,” Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz wrote on his Twitter account on Thursday.

Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday that it was also “evaluating” its participation.

Previous talks, including a 2016 round facilitated by the Vatican, failed to reach agreement. Reuters